Alicia de Larrocha

de Larrocha, Alicia (Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle), 1923–2009, Spanish pianist, b. Barcelona. One of the outstanding pianists of the 20th cent., she gave her first recital when she was five and had her orchestral debut with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra six years later. She performed mainly in Spain until 1947, when she toured Europe. She debuted in Britain in 1953 and in the United States in 1955; from 1971 on she was closely associated with Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival. Elegant, fluid, and poetic in style, she was a virtuoso of the classical repertoire, particularly the works of Mozart, and a master of the European romantics. De Larrocha also championed works by Spanish composers, including Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, and Manuel de Falla.